Gregg Rosenthal

The defending champion Steelers are on the ropes. After an overtime period gone horribly awry, they will likely have to defend their title as a wild-card team. And there is a lot of work left to get that far.

The Steelers should have never been in overtime with the Chiefs. They dominated on Sunday, out-gaining the Chiefs 453-206 before the extra period. But Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception inside the 10-yard line that was returned 94 yards in the fourth quarter, and the Steelers gave up a kickoff return touchdown to start the game. (The eighth-straight game the Steelers allowed a return of some sort for a touchdown!) When the chips were down late, the Steelers gave up two long drives in short order, collapsing like they did in two early season losses.

The overtime was particularly painful because Roethlisberger was knocked out of the game after taking a knee to the head. Charlie Batch replaced him, the drive stalled past midfield, and the Troy Polamalu-less defense allowed Chris Chambers to take a short pass 61 yards to set up the game winner.

The last time the Ravens and Steelers faced off, a trip to the Super Bowl was at stake. Next week they will just be fighting for playoff survival. Mike Tomlin said that Roethlisberger’s injury is “concussion oriented.” The Ravens would love nothing more than to knock the Steelers down another peg, no matter who is at quarterback for them.

AFC stretch run will be wild
Pittsburgh’s loss was a huge win for the rest of the AFC wild card hopefuls. At 5-5, even the Ravens and Dolphins are only one win behind both wild-card spots.

Give credit to Indy’s ‘D’
Peyton Manning is a constant, but the Colts’ defense is the difference this season. They have grown less predictable and tougher under new defensive coordinator Larry Coyer. Each week, the unit comes up with a new hero in the fourth quarter. This time, middle linebacker Gary Brackett made the play of the game with a red zone interception of Joe Flacco with fewer than three minutes to go during the Colts’ 17-15 win.

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More impressive was Indy’s goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter. They stuffed the Ravens on three straight plays from the one-yard line, just like they stopped a drive earlier in the half on third-and-one from the 10. The Ravens were forced to kick five goals, which wasn’t enough to give the Colts their first loss.

Giants just treading water
The Giants survived in overtime against the Falcons, but neither team looks like they are going anywhere.

Atlanta’s defense has completely imploded because of injuries and a lack of depth. They gave Eli Manning his first 300-yard game in the Meadowlands because they sold out to stop the run. The Giants’ defense wasn’t any better; the Falcons scored on every drive in the second half. Jason Snelling ran over them in the first half, and Matt Ryan broke out of a month-long slump for a 14-point fourth quarter comeback. The Giants won because they won the overtime coin toss. The bar is set a lot higher under Tom Coughlin than this.

Big D a big mystery
It’s hard to get a read on the Cowboys, but the team’s offense is inconsistent at best. Until a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, Dallas had scored seven points in more than seven quarters of action against Green Bay and Washington. Dallas’ receivers didn’t have a single catch until late in the game. The Cowboys were bailed out by two missed Redskins field goals that could have put the game out of reach.

With all that said, Tony Romo was nearly flawless on the game-winning drive. That’s what we want out of him, right? His improvisational scramble and scoring throw to Patrick Crayton is why we all got excited about Romo in the first place. The entire NFC East is flawed, but the Cowboys will be in very good position if they beat the Raiders on Thanksgiving to move to 8-3.

Big bungle by Bengals
Cincinnati’s loss wasn’t about missing Cedric Benson. Bernard Scott was more than capable in his place, gaining 151 yards from scrimmage. The loss was about Oakland’s pass defense and Cincinnati easing off the pedal in the second half against the Raiders. It was about Bruce Gradkowski, Louis Murphy, Chaz Shilens, and Zach Miller unbelievably marching 80 yards against a top-notch secondary. The game was a bit of a fluke because of Andre Caldwell’s fumble on a kickoff return, but it provided a lesson for the Bengals with home games coming up against the Browns and Lions.

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It could be a costly lesson. The Bengals remain in good shape in the AFC North — up 1.5 games on Pittsburgh — but this game could ultimately cost Cincinnati a bye. The Patriots and Chargers only have three losses, and the Bengals still have road dates in Minnesota and San Diego.

Nothing doing, JaMarcus
JaMarcus Russell isn’t getting off the bench anytime soon. For the second straight week, Bruce Gradkowski led an impressive drive with less than two minutes to go. This time, his rookie receiver didn’t drop a catch near the goal. That’s because Gradkowski was smart enough to throw to Louis Murphy instead of Darrius Heyward-Bey. The Raiders have a decent defense, and can stay with quality teams if the quarterback doesn’t kill them. They played the Chargers tough twice, and have wins over the Bengals and Eagles.

No more one-sided games
Remember a few weeks ago when we were all talking about the proliferation of blowouts? That’s not happening anymore. Seven games in Week 11 were decided by three points or less. That’s the most games that close since Week 6 of 2006.